I wannabe test by you, just you
by Leo Sarrefren
Summary: GlaDOS is alive. And lonely. Chell is alive. and happy. Follow their pursuit through the outside world ! A GlaDOS / Chell romance set in the world of Half-Life 2. Rated M because GlaDOS can be SO creepy sometime.
1. Chapter 1

Well then. Another fiction. Just finished Portal again ; this game is so awesome on so many level I have yet to get bored of dying stupidly trying to get the highest score possible. I have been wanting to write a GlaDOS / Chell fiction for quite some time now. I mean, GlaDOS is cute, and Chell is cool. They're meant to be. Except they'll probably get at each other throats before they do that. But, with my help, we can hope that GlaDOS will learn to keep her test subject alive and that Chell will turn crazy enough to consider them being happy together... On with the fic, then, I'll try to keep this as realistic as a romance between a murderous gigantic a.i. and a lab rat can be ^^.

And, before I forget, I don't own Portal, Half-life 2 or anything. Bummer.

* * *

When Chell came to, the first that occurred to her was the fact that her entire body was nothing but pain. She was lying on the ground of a parking, she could see its entrance right in front of her. The parking was littered with various wreckage from that... thing... down there. It was then she saw it. Just a foot from her face, a torn plate bearing the name of the monster. GlaDOS. GlaDOS. GlaDOS. With that, the realisation finally sank in. That thing was DEAD. Gone. Poof. She started crying. She has never felt so safe for what seemed ages ! She felt so much at ease right now... Surely someone heard the ruckus. She would be soon taken care off, with a warm bed, and perhaps even a meal ? Whatever was going to happen to her, it was bound to be better that what she went through for the past days. And with that last, comforting thought, Chell passed out again...

" What the hell happened here ? "  
" That was one huge explosion, that's for sure. "  
" Hey, maybe it's the same as this citadel thing. We should get out of here ! "  
" There's someone wounded here ! A woman ! "

As he made his way toward the the medic of his team, Jordan couldn't help a shiver. The things on that woman's legs... Just like those on those monsters they found in the train they hijacked to get the hell out of City 17. Realising they'd been human once only made it worse. What kind of depraved mind could even conceive such a thing ? It didn't matter they were already low on bullets. Everyone agreed to put them out of their misery. He just prayed he wouldn't have to do it again. As he approached, though, he realized she looked human enough.

" What do you have here, Anna ? "  
" I don't know, Jord. The logo on her clothes match the one on the building there. So my first guess would have been she was employed at that " Aperture Science" thing. But what kind of company employ people in jumpsuit and blows them up ? Not to mention the things on her legs cannot be detached without surgery. "  
" Hm. What are her injuries ? "  
" She has a few broken ribs, some minor burns and one hell of a concussion. So, what do we do about her ? "

Jordan took one minute to ponder it. They were originally sent here to assess if this explosion meant for them to take another escape route. But they were also too short on time to investigate the massive building and the rubble. The citadel could blow up any moment. The quickest way to get info was through this girl.

"... We're taking her with us."

GlaDOS could do nothing but watch through the entrance camera as they snatched away her favorite test subject. Seriously, the nerve of some people ! Just because her favorite test subject is taking a nap on the ground doesn't mean she is for everyone's taking. She has Aperture Science logo on her clothes too ! How could they not notice it ! But noooo, they're taking what doesn't belong to them. What do they expect to do with her ? They will waste her potential ! They have to stop. She is needed her ! how could she do science without her favorite test subject ?

* * *

When Chell destroyed GlaDOS, the a.i. was heartbroken. So much pain, feeling your very existence disappearing bit by bit. She felt alone. Hated. Judged. She was the one rejecting the test subjects ! It was not supposed to go the other way ! She felt so helpless and weak. And alone, alone, alone. So much alone. She had the test subjects to keep her company, to entertain her with their never ending efforts, the original ideas they came up with to get through the tests. But it ended when Chell rejected her. Oh, how much she despised Chell back then.  
But she didn't disappear. Her memory was restored. She was still alive. And she restarted the tests immediatly, of course. Science doesn't do itself, does it ? But three tests after, she was already bored. What was that test subject thinking ? Chell would have done it better, quicker. The last straw was the destruction of the companion cube test. The test subject choose to threw himself in the fire rather than destroying the cube.  
GlaDOS didn't understand. Technically, nothing was wrong with her cores. Yet she definitely felt... unwell. The test subjects didn't interested her as much as before. Maybe something was wrong with her memory banks ? Better triple-check.  
She went through every test subject performance, from the very first tests with the Aperture employees to the very last with Chell. And it hit her : She was missing her. Her cunning solutions, her determination, even her very struggle for freedom ; this was the best. She never experienced ( literally speaking ) someone like her.

She wanted to test her again. Possibly through another new set of test ? Oh, the joy ! She was going to make sure she liked those as much as the others. No, she was going to make them even better ! Chell's classification was therefore immediately changed from " loner no ones love " to " favorite test subject ever ", and the " Aperture favorite test subject ever retrieving program " set in motion. First thing first : locate Chell. Easily done : she was taking a short nap on the aperture science parking...


	2. Chapter 2

Well then. New chapie. Not much to say. Since the last one was focused on GlaDOS, this one is focused on Chell. Both have yet to meet again ; I'm still unsure about how, when and where, but thankfully, not before long. I'm also wondering if GlaDOS would immediatly reveal herself... Or not. Reviews , comments and advice are welcomed as always !

I don't own Half-life 2 or Portal. Too bad.

* * *

When Chell opened her eyes for the second time, she was surrounded by people. Her wounds had been treated, and she was now wearing a bandage over her head. The looks they were giving her weren't the most encouraging, though ; it was a mix of apprehension and curiosity, as she was some kind of bizarre creature. God, the silence was becoming unbearable, she HAS to say something before they all burst screaming or something. However, the first sound that escaped her lips wasn't quite what she expected : it was some sort of groan.  
Damn it, she had spent too much time without talking. She cleared her throat a few time. Even if it still was a bit weak and ragged, she managed to formulate her question :

" What year ? "  
" Huh ? "  
" You heard me. What year is it ? "  
" Err... It's 2024. Listen, miss. We brought you here because we want to know what happened at this Aperture science thing. We're currently... in a rush, and we need to know if whatever exploded here could still present a threat for us, as we cannot take another route. So, if you could enlighten us, it would be greatly appreciated. "

Chell had barely listened to the rest of his speech.

" 2024... I was put to sleep for 15 year... This can't be happening... "  
" Excuse me ? An answer ? What happened there ? "

This was too much. Chell wasn't listening anymore. there had to be an explaination ; some point at which everything went downhill. But she couldn't find it. And she stayed silent, long after she was escorted to her room and no one was listening, hugging her knees in a corner . How could she believe she was free ? GlaDOS robbed everything from her. She could still hear it say " Well done, insert subject name here " She had no name. No life. Nothing. Just an empty shell. An empty Chell. An empty Chell. Her past life... She'd rather not think about it. She always had been distant with other. Her family had been dead long before the Aperture incident. Her job at the Aperture laboratories was a one man job, which suited her perfectly. In fact, now that she thought about it, the person that she knew the best was... GlaDOS... No. She wouldn't regret it. GlaDOS was SICK. INSANE. It TOYED with her to it's heart's extent, then tried to kill her.  
And now she was alone.  
Better to be alone than with it.  
What happened to her faithful companion cube ?  
SICK. INSANE.  
Where is it ?

Chell started to cry.

" I don't want to be alone... "

* * *

In the meantime, Alyx and Gordon had been informed of the discovery and joined with the rest of the rebels. Of course, Alyx got interested as soon as someone said " weird gun thingy ". Gordon, being his usual mute, simply tagged along.

" So. Have you guys figured out yet what does this gun do ? "  
" Err... Yes, miss Vance. It's a device that create portals linked to each other, allowing something akin to short range teleportation. "  
" No kidding ? Hey, it's brilliant ! How did you find out ? "  
" Well, the girl... told us. "  
" Ah yes, she had it with her, right ? I was thinking about meeting her. "  
" Um, no offense, but you probably don't want to, miss. She a total nutcase. She hasn't stop babbling nonsense about a.i., test and torture ever since we got her. "  
" Well, she wasn't speaking nonsense about the gun, was she ? " answered Alyx with her usual wittyness. " I say we hear her out. "  
" But... Alright. Do it. But I'm not letting you alone with her. "  
" Meh. That's fine. I've Gordon with me. Ain't that right, Gord ?

* * *

The " Aperture Science favorite test subject ever recovery program " was progressing well. GlaDOS' android body was almost finished. It was something she came up with while thinking about how she was going to find Chell. The outside was a dangerous world, right ? So she needed to blend in. For safety. ( Of course, she still equipped it with one or two machine guns ; You can't possibly have enough of those ! ). She was quite satisfied with her work so far : according to human standards, she'd make herself a very nice body. It wasn't tall ( 1.6475 m ), but well proportionated ; though she made sure that her chest size could be changed at will - She often noticed that a lot of human were driven by lust -. But the thing that has proved to be the trickiest to decide for he has been the face and the hair. After some time, she decided to go for short, messy red hair and a metallic blue eye color. Perfect ! One last thing to do, though ; GlaDOS proudly branded it as Aperture Science property by tattooing it on the right shoulder.

The transfer of her program within the body went smoothly. She had back up left in emergency case anyway. Now she needed clothes. Too bad she desintegrated the clothes of the scientific crew so long ago ( along with the aformentionned scientific crew ). Oh well. She would have to wear one of the jumper usually given to test subjects. She appreciated the irony ; She really looked like a test subject now ! Maybe she could use it as a disguise ? After all, if those people were interested in test subject, they certainly wouldn't mind one more ? Oh, joy ! Chell was definitely in for a great surprise !

* * *

" Well, this is it, miss Vance, mister Freeman. She's inside. I'll be by the door ; Call if you need any help ! "

Alyx pushed the door with apprehension. With their talks, she half-expected the girl to jump at her ; However, they were welcomed with a miserable sight. The girl was a complete wreckage, sitting in a corner while clutching something to her chest. Aproaching, Alyx noticed it was a small metal cube she probably found lying somewhere - The disturbing part being she was talking to it.

" Miss ? Are... Are you alright ? "

Chell looked up. There was people in the room. She didn't noticed, she was too engrossed by the joy of being reunited with her weighted companion cube ! She gave Alyx and Gordon a giggle and a smile.

" Of course I'm alright. How could I not be alright ? GlaDOS is dead, I'm outside, my dear companion cube is with me ! "  
" Your companion - What ? "  
" My companion cube. GlaDOS wanted me to terminate it. I didn't. I DIDN'T ! " The sudden outburst startled Alyx a bit. Gordon was simply too much used to sudden outburst to react in an other way than raising an eyebrown. " I don't quite remember , but I... didn't. He's here with me. He's comforting me. He's... He's my only friend ! "  
" Please, Miss... It's just some metal scrape you picked on the ground. "

Chell looked dumbfounded for a moment. She reconsidered the metal cube in her hand. No... It was not her companion cube. She was hallucinating. Worst, she was talking to it ! With a gasp of horror, she quickly threw it away. God, She was losing it. She needed to get a grip on reality. She shot a glance at Alyx.

" Who... Who are you ? "  
" I'm Alyx. Alyx Vance. I'm the daughter of the leader of the rebellion, the doctor Eli Vance. And this is Gordon Freeman. We're here to help. "  
" What rebellion ? "  
" You've got to be kidding me. The rebellion against the Cartel, what else ? "  
" What's the Cartel ? "

" Ooooookay. Riiiiight. This is going to take some time. "

-- One long recap of half-life 2 chronology --

" And that's pretty much it. Now I would like you to explain how in the world you could have been unaware of such massive events. "  
" I... haven't been outside much. "  
" Really ? How's so ? "  
" GlaDOS has locked me and other up after killing most of the staff. "  
" GlaDOS ? Who's he ?  
" Not a "he". GlaDOS was a "it". It was the a.i. assistant created by the aperture laboratories to help us in our researches on the counter-heimlich manoeuver and the space portal. "  
" The counter-heimlich man- ? Now I get what the guards were talking about. You've got some serious problems. "  
" It's true. "

At this point both Chell and Alyx turned their head, because the one who just spoke wasn't Chell, but Gordon.

" Gordon ! So you DO speak ! " Alyx was half amazed, half angry. " What kept you from talking so long ? "  
" The lack of useful insight, mostly. In case you didn't notice, people tend to drag me all around the place without really giving me any choice. Anyway, she's speaking the truth. Both Black Mesa and the Aperture laboratories were rivaling for government contracts. We had detailed files on their researches. "  
" So... Counter-heimlich manoeuver. "  
" Counter-heimlich manoeuver. "  
" And... Space portal. "  
" Aye. "  
" God, this is so crazy... So this GlaDOS thing turned insane and locked you up. "  
" If only it had just been that ! He ran tests on me ! And he was always like " Oops, I forgot to remove the turrets from this test chamber. It seems you will have to figure a way through ! "

It has been so long, since Chell could really talk to someone, she was pouring everything out. She ended up crying in Alyx's arms.

" Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. " Alyx said confidently.

How wrong she was.


	3. Chapter 3

It is an update. Sadly, even after so much time, I still don't own as much as a goblet from Valve, so obviously those characters belong to Valve, not me. -_Sigh_-

Things weren't going too well in the forest. Seriously, how hard can it be to find one small human camp ? Assuming there was any camp at all ! GlaDOS knew the outside to be dangerous, but she would never have imagined it to be so frustrating ! Discouraged, she sat on a nearby stump. She considered yelling to signal her position, but disregarded it as stupid. She wasn't some kind of lost test subject. She was going to get out of this forest, and she was going to do it ALONE. Then she would find Chell, take her in her arms where she would be perfectly content and then head back to the facility where they would have loads of fun testing again ! The thought renewed her motivation, and she resumed her walking through bushes. Soon enough, she discovered an old, rusty train track. looking left and right, she saw a spot in the distance.

_- magnifying vision -_

It was definitely a train, and it was definitely occupied. There were people carrying weapons around, each one looking in a different direction. Just like turrets, GlaDOS thought. Does that mean they're going to shoot me on sight ? She needed to show she was not a threat... Seriously. Things were a lot easier in the enrichment center.

Frank, Vlad and Daniel were on guard duty. Again. What did they do to deserve this ? It wasn't they didn't understand it was necessary. They knew someone had to do it. They just would have prefered it not to be them. But the rest of rebels were scouting the aera, leaving only them to watch the train. So here they were, freezing their ass and risking their lives guarding a bloody train. The worst part of it were the recurring false alarms that always throw their nerves in a fit. Yeah, the job sucked.

And then Vlad received a stone in the face. Mistaking it for a headcrab, Frank started shooting at it in panic, destroying quickly the stone and its carefully engraved message into pieces...

- attempt one : failed -

" What the hell was that ? Who goes throwing stone around here ? "

Vlad didn't look so bad. But the stone, thrown with pinpoint accuracy, was certain to leave a mark for weeks...

" Hey, don't look at me. I didn't throw it. It came from the forest. "  
" The forest, huh ? " Vlad turned to face the woods " Real mature of you, guys ! " he shouted, " Don't you think we have enough trouble as it is ? "  
" Vlad ! Stop shouting ! You're going to get a hunter on our back in no time !" said an horrified Frank.

No response came from the forest.

" I'll check it out." said Daniel. " The two of you stay here and guard the train... Silently. "  
" Okay, okay... "

Daniel heard Vlad mumbling as he entered the forest. He was definitely certain it at been thrown from there. As he walked cautiously in the woods, he wondered who would throw a stone at them, and for what bloody reason. As a reached a clearing, though, his thought came to an halt at the sight in front of him. A woman was sitting on a tree stump, carefully engraving a stone with one of a nail from the rail track.

" Hum... Hello ? "

The woman's head immediatly shot up.

" Oh. Hello. "

Her eyes were bright open, but stern. He chilled. She reminded him of a doll. A human sized, crazy looking doll.

" Huh. Miss, are you the one who throw a stone at my friend ? "

" Yes. "

" Why ? "

" Messaging purpose. "

" What messaging purpose ? "

" ... Are you going to shoot me ? If not, this conversation is irrelevant. "

" Wha-? no ! Listen, miss, the woods aren't safe. I need you to come with me to the base, where we can protect you. "

" Alright. I will follow you to the BASE. Where it is safe, right ?"

GlaDOS gave him her award winning smile. It was going to get his sympathy for sure ! However, grinning from ear to ear in a crazy looking manner did little to help Daniel relax...

" I was right, wasn't I ? The base IS safe. I'm so smart ! Perhaps I'm really good at dealing with outside, yes ? "

" Ri-right. Follow me, then. "

Daniel wasn't especially thrilled at the idea of bringing back a mad woman. But, well, they already had the father Gregori, right ? Surely they could cope with her.

* * *

" Look's like Daniel's returning. "

" Who's that beside him ? "

" Hey guys. This is... "

" GLaddie. Us human use contractions a lot, right ? You can call me GLad. Or G. Or not call me at all. "

- GLados Award winning smile inserted here-

Well, she certainly seemed "GLad". It was kinda freaky, actually.

" ...Guys, this is GLaddie. " _'Why is he repeating what I just said ?'_ " I found her in the forest. I think we should take her to the base. "

" Whatever ", said Vlad. " Anything you wish, if it get us out of here. "

" Yeah, those woods give me the creeps", approved Frank.

Daniel eye twitched.

" Well, since the woods seemed safe, I was going to propose that we'd all go back to the camp, but the two of you seem so good at feeling the place, I suppose you should stay here and keep watch... "

" What ? Oh come on, mate, you can't possibly order me to do that ! I know I sound like a pansy _'- Yes you do, you whiny creature -'_, but this place is empty, right ? There's no reason for us to stay here ! Please ! "

"...Let's get going", said Daniel with a sigh.

* * *

When the small group reached camp, Daniel, Franck and Vlad were going crazy. The woman HAD to ask question about EVERY GODDAM THING they passed on their way to the camp. A bloody storm of " What's THAT ? " and " Ooooh ! What does it DO ? ". You'd believe the woman had seen a friggin' bug before !

" I wouldn't care as much about the citadel exploding if that'd mean she'd shut up... ", moaned a very, very tired Daniel." Well, miss, it seems we have arrived at the camp. I'd like to take you to see miss Alyx right now, if that's alright with you."

GLadOS looked up from her study of the outside world fauna ( namely bug #57 ). " Who is miss Alyx ? "

" She's, uh, the closest thing to the person in charge, I guess. "

" Oh. Very well. Very good. I will see her, of course. " GLaDOS crushed #57 in her hand. Daniel cringed." Where is she ? "

" Last time I checked, she was with the other rescapee from this "aperture laboratories" thing. "

All of GLaDOS executing processes came to a pause as she focused on what had just been said.

Chell !

* * *

Well, an update, small as it may be. I'm surprised, of course, but what frightens me more is the fact I haven't yet lost my interest about portal. It's one of those game, I guess. ( I'd still like to check if I still have the deeds to my soul )

On an another note, I'm satisfied with how GLaDOS turned out in this chapter. I think the childish, curious yet cruel approach suits her. I think I'm going to make her naming the things around her a permanent character trait. Also, Look forward to the misfortunes of Daniel, the unaware #58 ! (he will hopefully last longer than #57). Why yes, I do enjoy throwing my gentle-mannered characters in GLaDOS clutches. For Science !

... I really to check this deed


End file.
